64 STOCK DOVE. 



THE STOCK-DOVE. COLUMBA CENAS, Linnceu** 

 C. cenas. Linn. Columbe columbin, Temm. 

 Stock Dove of British authors. This species, 

 though apparently possessing a very wide geo- 

 graphical distribution, is local in its British range, 

 and, so far as we can ascertain, has not yet been 

 met with in Scotland or Ireland; it is, in fact/ 

 confined to a few of the southern counties in 

 England, and there, not even to those in which 

 wood abounds ; and " in the open counties of Suf- 

 folk and Norfolk, this species frequently makes its 

 nest in the holes in the ground, generally selecting 

 a rabbit's burrow for the purpose." We have had 

 little opportunity of seeing the species wild, or of 

 attending to its habits ; where we have seen it, it 

 has been among aged wood, and at a distance the 

 flight is not easily distinguished from that of the 

 wood pigeon. According to our best informed Bri- 

 tish ornithologists, it is most frequent in a compa- 

 ratively well wooded district, breeding in decayed 

 trees and in the pollards. They are also described 

 in the open countries to " nestle under thick furze 

 bushes, which are impervious to rain."* Its man- 

 ners, in other respects, somewhat resemble the last, 

 mixing occasionally with it and being gregarious 

 in winter; the food is also similar. Its note is 

 described as more indistinct and regular than the 

 last, and does not bring with it the same associa- 

 tions as that of either the wood pigeon or turtle 

 * Yarrell. 



